Mandeep Rai is a global value expert working with companies, institutions and individuals worldwide. He has visited more than 150 countries and has reported as a journalist for the BBC World Service and Reuters, among others.
He began his career in private banking at JPMorgan, then worked at the United Nations, the European Commission and local NGOs before establishing the UAE's first media venture capital fund.
He studied philosophy, politics and economics, obtained an MSc degree in international development from the London School of Economics, an MBA degree from the London Business School, spent a year at Harvard Business School and MIT. He obtained his doctorate on the topic of global values.
She is the author of the book “Value compass - what do 101 countries teach us about purpose, life and leadership?”
Talk title: A Compass for Values
Hello – I am Doctor Mandeep Rai – and over the next short window we have together I aim to take you on a journey giving you more access to happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment – or at least that is what His Holiness, The Dalai Lama has said about what we are just about to embark upon.
Now to those of you in the audience; put your hands up please if you have ever been confused in life as to which way to turn? Wondered whether to take path A or B, and it was not immediately clear…
I see you – and I will speak directly to you and this situation. Thank you and you may lower your hands now.
Let me turn the tables and ask if anyone has never had a moment of confusion or hesitation – ever…
OK – Good. Glad we are all - most of us are at least - human.
This human-ness can go in many directions, and sometimes needs a little clarity or indeed a Compass.
If I had known what I know today about how we are programed by our values – they are our MO – modus Operandi if you will, - I would not have taken such a pivoting journey through life, yet rather made decisions that were true to me and the legacy that I wished to leave.
I can take you on a journey to get there.
You will always know when there is a confusion on which way to turn when there is a tension. The first time there was such a disconnect for me, was when I was offered a place at The University of Oxford.
Everywhere in the world this is a recognized institution of academic excellence, and yet when I shared the news with my mother, she said, oh no, oh no… go anywhere but there… How will I get you married within our community? You are likely to go and marry some elite white guy from the country called Sebastian, and I will likely never be able to speak our mother tongue, Punjabi to our Grandchildren… and then there is the pressure – you’ll start taking drugs to cope…
In my culture, you listen to your parents, and so be it.
I went to University – and what I learned there is that -
We had both wanted what was ‘best’ for me, and for me to have the best life possible, but the values that the definition of best was based upon was drastically different. My mother’s values for her definition of best were for her daughter to have stability, security, safety. To marry well, within the culture, and to have a secure family.
I also wanted the best for me, but my values were to live as fully as possible – freedom, growth, exploration, learning, and to be open to life.
Upon graduating University something rather similar happened with my bosses.
I was initially out to meet my needs – those to pay off my student loans – and therefore to earn as well as possible, to be independent, and not to be a burden on anyone, whilst utilizing my skills and skillset, and so I joined one of the best Investment Banks in the City, JP Morgan – in Private Wealth Management. It met with the languages I spoke and the skillset I had.
But within my role I would always try to look for win win win investments, which later was called impact investing, but I was ahead of my time, and twenty years prior my boss simply asked if I wanted to join the CSR – corporate social responsibility department instead, or indeed, their charitable arm.
That was when I first realized that I didn’t ever think about my values. What was important to me through my work, and what was the legacy I wanted to leave?
I can tell you that is to make the highest and most positive impact possible –
So I went back to the drawing board, and I fell into Journalism, thanks to Kathy Eldon.
I found that I would get direct feedback and the influence of good material or stories – and the impact was almost immediate. Whether with stories released on the BBC World Service, or with Forbes, or Reuters, amongst others, people would get back to me with their experience of what I shared, and on many occasions, direct impact.
This journey led me to work in over 180 countries – and I have seen values operate everywhere, and that cultures, communities, indeed people wish to evolve into their very best selves and that they do by operating through their values.
For example – many countries have experienced genocide, but when this occurred in Rwanda, the leader, Paul Kagame, had a radical approach and spoke about cleanliness –
The Cleanliness of Rwanda
The Silence of Finland
The Faith of India
And the Competitiveness of Hungary. Certainly the competitiveness of Hungary. You see something rather remarkable happen in the nation of Hungary… and then I will speak of John von Neumann, the founder of this university… will give examples.
At Harvard Business School I became serious about values and began to work and write papers with Professors Nitin Nohira and Rakesh Khurana. Nitin had been working with Prof Sumantra Ghosal of LBS where the foundation of our values based studies lay –
They had been discussing the vision of all business students taking an oath, similar to how law students or medical students do – swearing that they will stand for something greater than just their own gain. Well what if Business Students were to take that oath to say they stood for something much greater than shareholder profit, but that they would be willing to take a stand for all stakeholders in society.
Now what is most important to you?
What a difference it would make if you were to actively choose your values rather than them just happening to you – being your MO – because of family, peers, friends, the society around you…. Let’s create a compass that guides all the macro and mirco decisions towards a direction that makes sense for you. This is the time to take action.
How about I ask you to close your eyes and picture your eulogy. How have you lived your one wild and precious life? And what values would you like to be remembered by? What is your grandson or daughter saying about you? Or your best friend. How are you being remembered? What value based words do you bring closer to yourself – the values of xyz… Is that how you are spending your time? Are those your colleagues or family members would highlight given your behavior? Are these inspirational or aspirational?
You will find that when you become clear about your values that are operating under the surface, and in some cases it is what is important to you right now, whilst in other cases we get closer to your aspirational values.
What a radical improvement it could be if you were to adapt even one, and we encourage you to actually consider five – and then to priortise those 5… because too many and it can become overwhelming, and yet too few and you are likely to be too skewed.
How would your life change if you were adopt any one of these values into your life?
Thank you!
Global value expert, author